Three mysterious beings concoct a botanical fugue among the trees, revealed through the peculiar landscapes of dancers/co-directors Yulia Arakelyan, Erik Ferguson and Grant Miller. Journey into the fantastical, dream-like and vibrant scenes of “Waking the Green Sound: a dance film for the trees,” directed by Wobbly Dance, in collaboration with cinematographer Ian Lucero and musicians Sweetmeat.

About

created, directed and performed by

Yulia Arakelyan, Erik Ferguson, Grant Miller

cinematography and editing by Ian Lucero

original music by Sweetmeat

photography by Kamala Kingsley

Two years ago we decided to make a dance film. This decision to break away from live performance came from a desire to dance in outdoor space and to bring our audience even closer into our strange Wobbly world. We wanted to connect with nature on a deeper, visceral level. We wanted to show our disabled bodies and all their curves, scars and twists in relation to the curves, scars and twists of trees.

This film was made possible by a project grant from the Regional Arts and Culture Council and through the support of numerous volunteers and collaborators who worked with us throughout the creation, filming and post production phases of this project.

Screenings

If you would like to screen "Waking the Green Sound" please contact us. We will work with you and your budget to make it happen. DVDs with Audio Description for purchase coming soon! Email wobbly@wobblydance.com

New Expressive Works (N.E.W.) will throw open its doors with free classes, space to mingle, and opportunities to meet some of our incredible and committed independent professional performing artists!We will have refreshments and light snacks. The event is kid-friendly and the venue is very accessible.WHEN: August 27th,2016, 2:00pm - 6:00pm, "Waking the Green Sound" will screen between 4pm and 4:45pmWHERE: New Expressive Works (810 SE Belmont, Portland OR 97214. Use the south entrance of the WYSE Building)CONTACT: Subashini Ganesan, subashinig@gmail.com, 50-449-6160 for more information.

Bios

Yulia Arakelyan (co-director, performer) is a Portland based performance artist and co-founder of Wobbly – a multidisciplinary performance project. She has trained with CandoCo Dance Company in London (’04-’05) and has a BA in Dance from the University of Washington (’07). However, some of her most influential, life/body altering moments came from outside of the institutions through rigorous training by national and international artists such as Diego Pinon, Jurg Koch, Sheri Brown, Mizu Diesierto, Miguel Gutierrez and Yukio Suzuki. Along with partner Erik Ferguson, Yulia founded Wobbly in 2006. Since then, they have created many original short works, a full length group dance theatre production, performed in Seattle, Portland, Chicago and Barcelona, were part of a 6 month residency at Studio 2@Zoomtopia, and are currently working on an art film with filmmaker Ian Lucero to be premiered in May 2015 at The Headwaters Theatre. Wobbly’s work is in part supported by grants from the Regional Arts and Culture Project. Yulia also works as an independent choreographer and has created original works for Polaris Dance Company as well as several solo works. In 2013, Yulia received an award from the Lilla Jewel Fund for Women Artist to create a new dance work for the McKenzie River Gathering Foundation’s annual social justice fundraiser. As an educator, Yulia has taught classes and workshops to people of all ages and abilities. She was a regular guest teacher at the annual Integrated Dance Summer Intensive at the University of Washington in Seattle. She has also taught at Lynch View Elementary School, Polaris Dance Center, and Beaumont College (England). In 2009, Yulia was invited to present about her work at the National Summit on Careers in the Arts for People with Disabilities in Washington DC.

Erik Ferguson (co-director, performer) is an anti-virtuoso movement artist living in Portland, Oregon, and co-founder of Wobbly Dance. He got his start studying improvisation with Alito Alessi in Trier, Germany in 2003 and has performed and taught DanceAbility and contact improvisation throughout the Pacific Northwest, as well as the UK, Oaxaca, and British Columbia. He has most recently studied improvisation with Deborah Hay and Barbara Dilly. He is a perpetual student of Butoh who has studied with various teachers including Akira Kasai, Koichi and Hiroko Tamano, Mizu Desierto and many others. His performances range from storytelling to dance theatre exploring themes of embodiment, gender identity, and extremes of human emotion.

Grant Miller (guest artist) is a living artist in Portland, Oregon. His fires burn for butoh, mask, clown, ritual, voice, dramaturgy, art history, web design, cognitive science, and social consciousness. A native of the Willamette Valley, at the age of six Grant began to speak publicly about his experience of living a diverse body. His artistic pursuits began at Northwest Children's Theater and School just as he entered middle school. Between 2007-2011, Grant studied at Vassar College and The Eugene O'Neill Theatre Center's National Theatre Institute, where he developed commitment to performance practice. In 2012 Grant acted in Imago Theater's "The Black Lizard." He performs occasional administrative tasks for Water in the Desert, where he also participates in workshops, performances, and shared practice. Transformational teachers have included Giovanni Fusetti, Diego Piñon, Rachel Jett, Jeff Janisheki, Chris Grabowski, Gabrielle Cody, Sandra Stone, Emily Gottfried, Rebecca Lowe, Mizu Desierto, his family, and many unnamed here. Grant hopes that through his work he can honor his teachers and create art that teaches us to paint over our scars, rather than try to erase them.

Ian Lucero (cinematographer & editor) is a Portland-based filmmaker, cinematographer and editor who for the last 15 years has been documenting some of the Northwest's most prominent and up-and-coming artists, bringing awareness to the diversity of the region. He has captured theater performers and musicians such as Ahamefule J. Oluo (Seattle), Wobbly Dance (Portland), Meshi Chavez (Portland), Diego Piñon (Mexico), Kronos Quartet (San Francisco), and Degenerate Art Ensemble (Seattle). He has made short films for non-profits like Seattle Theatre Group (DANCE This and More Music @ the Moore youth programs), Oregon Community Foundation (Studio To School Convening), and Arts Corps (Seattle, Festa Fundraiser). Ian studied music at Cornish College of the Arts and eventually realized that behind the camera was where he was most comfortable. He recently collaborated with choreographer Haruko Nishimura on the film and theater piece “Dictator”, set to premiere in San Francisco in the fall of 2015. Additionally, a Wobbly-produced work (Ian's first film collaboration with the group) titled “Waking the Green Sound: a dance film for trees”, premieres in May of 2015.

Beau-Caprice Vetch and Grey Francis (Sweetmeat) have been a collaborative force in the visual and audio arts since 2006. First meeting in Olympia, Washington, the two have since produced installation art exhibits, renegade performance, video art, and a number of full length albums. With a background in classical piano and music theory, Francis has been deeply influenced by the six months he spent studying Indian classical music in northern India. Vetch specializes in electronic music production, and creates most of Sweetmeat's sounds using samples from their surrounding environment. Living in a remote valley west of Mount Rainier, the two are currently working on a variety of visual and audio productions.